Mhambrey could make for ideal Mumbai coach

The long awaited inclusion of Mumbai boy Ajinkya Rahane in the Indian team for the ODIs against England seems to have boosted the morale of the aspiring cricketers in the city.
That it took 17 first-class centuries and 4673 runs with average of 67.72 for the 23-year-old Rahane to be considered speaks about poor foresight of the national selectors. The other Mumbai player, 22-year old medium pacer, Dhaval Kulkarni, is still waiting in the wings.
Despite taking 114 first class wickets at an average of 25.89 with 8 five-wicket hauls, he has been ignored time and again. Jaydev Unadkat with 36 wickets in 10 first class matches was lucky to play one Test match. While the one ball that Varun Aron bowled at 153 kmph in Deodhar Trophy has made him the bowling sensation though he has taken only 25 first class wickets in 11 matches. That too in the Plate division. Whatever may be the speed, bowlers need to take wickets. Why performing Mumbai boys get the cold shoulder from the national selectors is something the new regime in the MCA must investigate.
The MCA president Vilasrao Deshmukh was magnanimous in requesting Dilip Vengsarakar to head the all-important Cricket Improvement Committee (CIC). But as a matter of principle Vengsarkar declined the offer. His contention is that it would be morally incorrect to accept any position when the members of the association rejected his candidature for the presidential post.
When he lost for the first time some years ago as an independent candidate, he had resigned from the MCA selection committee. The other cricketers Milind Rege and Balwinder Singh Sandhu, who had contested from the Vengsarkar group, have been appointed members of the CIC which being ad-hoc body is not bound by the clause in the constitution about the limit on the number of terms. Milind Rege has been the member of the CIC for 12 years. However the posts in other sub-committees can't be for more than eight years.
The CIC's first big concern is the appointment of the Mumbai coach. Praveen Amre quit in a huff after Mumbai's exit in the quarterfinal of the Ranji Trophy last season. With Chandrakant Pandit and Sandhu in the CIC and Lalchand Rajput heading the MCA's indoor academy, the CIC will have to hunt for a new coach and soon.
Perhaps MCA may have to request the Mumbai Indians to relieve Paras Mhambrey who would be free once the Champions League ends on October 9. Mhambrey, who changed the fortunes of Bengal in two years when he was the coach and did reasonably well for Baroda, has all the qualities of a coach that the MCA should be looking for.
Captain of the Mumbai Ranji Trophy winning team, Mhambrey - guided by Frank Tyson in his bowling and later in coaching in Bangalore - has the knack of getting things done from players. Moreover being a Mumbaikar, he knows the dressing room culture of Mumbai players. That he commands respect from the young cricketers is an added value.
Another area of concern has been the MCA academy. Despite the fact that the facilities at the academy are high class, it hasn't produced cricketers of top quality. This could be because there was no system in place for analyzing player's local performances, fitness and lack of coordination with many persons concerned in cricket operations.
The MCA has now abolished the post of director at the academy and will be appointing a head coach. With a massive number of junior tournaments being played in the city, unless specially developed software is used for monitoring the players' progress and fitness levels, the talent will not get the right type of exposure which is required. Mumbai has an abundance of talent that needs to be groomed scientifically. Time to spread the net to unearth talent.